Pusillanimous 173

Published: Sunday, November 01, 1998

In 1974, during the Watergate hearings, Congress voted nearly unanimously, 412-3, to uphold the judiciary committee report and hold an impeachment inquiry on President Nixon. How times have changed! This year the vote was 258-176 for an impeachment inquiry; 173 congressional Democrats voted against any inquiry.

These Democrats will have to explain to themselves and their constituents how any conscientious being could vote for ending deliberations here and now. An impeachment inquiry is only an inquiry of the charges and not a trial.

Mr. Clinton has the Democratic Party holding the short end of the stick. He lied even to his secretary of state, his Cabinet members, his Democrat congressional leaders and his best friend.

He allowed them to make fools of themselves to further his lies. During the Whitewater hearings, he had all his administration colleagues up on Capitol Hill asserting "preposterous" memory failures.

The average American voter might wonder: Where is the public trust in all this? Do we not deserve to know what was going on with Travelgate, the David Hale loan, Webb Hubbell's hush money, Filegate, where the president committed an "intentional abuse of power" in summoning from the FBI raw background files of hundreds of prominent Republicans, and threats to the women who had reported encounters with Clinton? Isn't it possible that the president has been lying on these matters also?

Finally, regarding Hillary Clinton who played an important role in stirring up much of the aforementioned muck and mire: A saint she ain't!